Marks of the Mazza: Reverse Harem (Mazza Series Book 1)

by Blake Blessing

  The laughter dies as he slams his mouth down on mine, twisting his hand in my hair and jerking my head back. He rips his mouth away to kiss a hot path down my throat, nipping along the way.

  He reaches between us to find my sweet spot. Dipping down, he gathers some of my wetness to circle around my nub, and then rubs furiously at my clit. The pressure nearly hurts, but it hurts so good.

  I run my hands over his body, loving the play of the muscles rippling under his skin. I work my hands around to his back, arching into him, hugging him as tight as I can as he works my body. White-hot heat originates at my core and pulses through my body as I come.

  I don’t get a chance to come down. Jari throws my legs over his shoulders and slams into me. We groan in unison.

  Jari sets a brutal pace, pulling nearly all the way out before ramming back in. The constant pounding is pushing me up the bed. He leans over and folds me virtually in half as if I were a piece of paper.

  The burn in my thighs from being stretched so far adds to the delicious pain, and he’s going so deep at this angle I can’t keep quiet. I groan so loud that I’m sure Mehki and Rand must hear us. My face contorts into a strained grimace.

  Jari chuckles and flashes a boyish grin.

  “Let’s see if we can get louder.” He braces one hand on the headboard and the other on my shoulder to hold me in place and pumps even harder. And damn it. I get louder.

  He pulls one of my hands up to his mouth, bites the meat of my palm, and sucks hard. When I can’t take anymore, and the overwhelming pleasure rolls over me, Jari falls on top of me and kisses me fiercely, shoving his tongue in my mouth. I quickly bite down to complete the blood exchange. I suck on his tongue, dazedly noticing his tense, jerky thrusts until he stops completely. His labored breathing is loud in our confined room, and sweat drips from his neck and chest to roll down my legs.

  Where his kisses were hard and demanding, they turn slow and tender. He helps me move my legs off his shoulders to wrap around his waist.

  He drops all his weight on top of me, pushing the air out of my lungs.

  “Jari,” I grunt, “you’re heavy.”

  He laughs under his breath. “Maybe if I pin you down like this, you won’t go and make any crazy decisions.” I hear the smile in his voice.

  After a few more seconds, he props his weight up on his elbows but stays flush on top of me.

  He shoves his face in my neck and blows raspberries. I giggle incessantly, wriggling around and trying to get out from under him. It’s no use.

  “That’s for tickling Sage.” He blows another raspberry.

  “You.” Gasp.

  “Helped.” Giggle.

  “Hold him down!” Gasping giggle.

  “You say potayto, I say patahto.” He sighs and settles on top of me.

  We lie there, knowing that our time is almost up, but content to stay connected the only way we can. Because it won’t last.

  “ISOLDE. PSST.”

  Rand is trying to get my attention through the door. Shit. It must be time to go. I hop up out of the bed and rush to get dressed.

  Jari takes hold of my arm, spinning me around to face him. “Don’t do it, Iss. It’s a bad idea. It will also upset Sage.”

  “Jari, I want to be able to keep coming to see you until we can find our way out.”

  “No, Isolde. If that’s the price to come see me, I don’t want you to come. Nato and the others will find a way to get us out. I have no doubts.”

  The door creaks open, and Rand takes a step inside. “Isolde, love, we need to go if we are going to avoid detection. People will become suspicious of my loyalty if they know I brought you down here.”

  Rand looks like the Rand that I spent the evening with, but he is back to being that distant, aloof personality again. It’s like he has multiple personality disorder. He is this polite, standoffish person around my LL, and he is the dutiful and dastardly son around his father and his cronies. Then there is how he was with me in my room, all passion and fire.

  Jari maneuvers me behind him, and I cringe as he takes several steps toward Rand. Never mind that he’s naked and his dick’s probably still wet.

  “Listen here, Rand, Sage is going to be her Janer mate. That is not yours to take, so you have no reason to sleep with her. Got it?” Jari demands in a way that can only be described as sinister.

  Rand coolly holds his stare. He is about the same height, but I swear he is able to look down his nose at Jari. He gives off such an air of superiority it’s not even funny.

  “Believe me, I want Sage to be the Janer mate. He completes your quad of mates for Isolde. That doesn’t mean I don’t still want her. At least I want her for her, not for what she represents or as a way to atone for the past.”

  I suck in a sharp breath. Rand just voiced the exact fears I have been trying to relay to the boys. They do their best to dissuade me from those thoughts, but it’s completely different to have someone else throw them out there in the open. Somehow it makes my fears seem more valid, more real.

  Jari does a damn good impersonation of a rabid dog as he growls under his breath just before he lunges. Rand expects it and swiftly side steps him. Jari lands on the wall and gives a frustrated yell as he bangs his fists against it in one loud thump. Hopefully that doesn’t leave a dent.

  The heat in the room becomes unbearable, matching Jari’s anger.

  Turning around, Jari doesn’t attack again, but he stalks closer until he’s within a few inches of Rand.

  “You don’t know anything about us or why we want Isolde. You can’t know our motives and our hearts. If you think we are the type of men who would bind her to us just because of what she is, not who she is, why are you helping us?” Jari growls.

  That’s a good point. I thought that Rand did consider Jari and the rest good guys. Based on what Rand just said though, that’s up for debate. And why would he help us if he doubted their motives?

  Rand straightens his shirt, sliding his hands down the front. “Because I want her to live, and I also don’t want to see her used as a tool at the hands of Rainer. Regardless of my thoughts on your relationship with her, you are her best chance at survival.”

  Whoa, whoa, whoa. That sounds fucking ominous.

  What the hell are we talking about survival for? Is all of this stuff they are talking about really that dangerous? I hope this isn’t some damn Game-of-Thrones-type crap where there are plots within plots within plots and everyone is secretly trying to kill everyone.

  That might be fun to watch on TV, but it would be absolutely exhausting in real life.

  “You’ve been in Isolde’s presence for five fucking minutes. What makes you so different than the light you are painting us in?”

  Rand turns slightly, keeping Jari in sight, and meets my gaze. Some of the wall between him and the rest of the world falls for just a moment before slamming back into place.

  “Because I see her for who she is. I also know what it’s like to have to watch for all the snakes in the grass. Never sure who is really a friend and who is out to get you. I see her innocence and her beauty. I don’t want this to shatter that. I will do everything that I can to prevent it.”

  Sincerity rings in his words. His face is set in a dour expression showing how serious he is on the topic. When he meets my stare, I see a kindred spirit.

  The hostility has swept clean away from Jari. The fury is gone from his expression and in its place is one of contemplation. The bunching of the muscles in his shoulders and back smooth away, and he backs up a few paces.

  It’s easy to see Rand as the bad guy. There is so much going on around us, and he is right here to blame and take our anger out on. But I want to be better than that. I want to be bigger than that.

  And I don’t want to spend my last few minutes with Jari hashing this out. We need a plan.

  “Rand, what happens now? How can we get Jari out safely?” I move so I am equally between the two men.

  Rand sighs, rubbing the
back of his neck.

  “I don’t know. We need to see what Rainer is planning so we know what we are up against. I have been in contact with Yunez, and he is supposed to let Nato know that you are both unharmed and we are watching out for you. He feels like shit that you were taken off his property anyway. Did you at least complete the bond before I knocked?”

  I really doubt he missed the climactic ending to our bonding.

  I look down at my wrist and see that my Levan mark is an aquamarine blue. Is that right? Are all bond marks different shades of blue based on the mate?

  Reaching out to gather Jari’s hand in my own, I turn it over to look at his mark. Mirror image, same as Nato’s. It’s also the same shade of aquamarine as mine. I run my finger over it lightly.

  “Where was your mark before?” I tip my head back to meet his eyes.

  He smiles slyly and twists around to gaze at his butt. “It was on my left butt cheek. Can’t say I’m sorry to see it gone.”

  I return his smile with one of my own.

  Jari is still naked. How does this not bother him at all? It makes me love him a little that he’s comfortable enough in his own skin to swing freely for everyone.

  Getting back to business, I turn to Rand, “Can we speak with Nato?”

  He gives one shake of his head.

  “I’m afraid not. We flirt with discovery over every risk we take. It was a huge risk to bring you here tonight. We really need to be leaving.” He holds his hand out to me.

  I throw my arms around Jari, hugging him tightly and planting a hard kiss right to his lips.

  “I’ll come see you as soon as I’m able, if we don’t get out of here first.”

  “Don’t. Not if it means risking your life.” He presses one more hard kiss to my lips before releasing me. “Be safe, Isolde.”

  “You too.” I take Rand’s hand and pull him out of the room, ready to go back to my own.

  Mehki is in the same spot as when we came down. He stares at me but doesn’t make any attempt to move or speak.

  We make it all the way back to my room with the door shut behind us before Rand says anything.

  He guides me to the bed and sits down, pulling me to straddle his lap, not unlike my position with Jari. Arms twined around me, he hugs me so that I am pressed completely against him.

  In my ear he whispers, “Are you all right, love?”

  I close my eyes and take a deep breath.

  “Do you want to talk about any of it? I know that was probably really intense for you.”

  “Jari doesn’t want me to sleep with you. He thinks you’re trying to trick me. Are you?” I pull back so I can see his eyes, gauge his reaction to my words.

  His lips curl up one side in a sad smile. “I want you, I won’t lie. I was drawn to you from the first moment I saw you laid out on the rock.”

  Rand tucks an errant strand of hair behind my ear.

  “Iss, love, I would never bond you without your consent. I don’t go where I’m not wanted. If you tell me now that you just want to sleep, I will gladly lie down with you and hold you until morning.”

  “I…”

  I did give my word, and I have never wanted to be an oathbreaker. When you don’t have a lot a money, sometimes your word is all you have, and to think I might go back on my word sours my stomach. I feel like he is asking for more than just casual sex. The way he has been with me tonight, trying to support me and comfort me, I know there would be emotions involved. Not just sex. I wrap my hands on either side of his neck.

  “I don’t know that I could have sex with you and it not mean anything. I don’t think you could be a casual fling for me with no feelings.”

  “Oh you would feel plenty,” he says ruefully. “But I get it. It wouldn’t be casual for me either.”

  “Exactly, and that doesn’t seem fair to Sage. Especially as new as everything is. Would you be upset if we just go to sleep?”

  “Never. I could never be upset with you for wanting to follow your heart and do what you feel is right.” He leans forward and presses a kiss to my forehead.

  Rand shifts to help me climb off his lap. “Up you get. Let’s get some rest.”

  “You don’t have to stay here with me, you know,” I say as I pull the covers down and climb in.

  Rand molds himself to my back. “Yes. I do. I don’t want to take any chances of there being an attempt on your life. Believe me, this is no hardship.”

  He squeezes my hip before moving away again. He’s building a slow burn in me that was left smoldering from my time with Jari. My temperature steadily rises with every touch and caress he passes over my body.

  Does he know what he’s doing to me? I bet he does. Damn. He was effing right. I am insatiable.

  With a huff, I lie down and he scoots up to me, bundling me in his arms. I bet this isn’t necessary for him to protect me. I don’t say anything, though. It’s nice to be held, and a part of me understands he needs this too.

  WHAT THE HELL is that noise? My sleep-addled brain is confused by the chainsaw in the room. Pulling the pillow over my head, I try to silence the sound. But no good. It’s still freaking loud.

  I lift my head up and find Rand on his back next to me with his mouth open and that god-awful sound filtering through.

  Giggles escape me, and there’s no use trying to quiet myself. He can’t hear me anyway over the sounds of his snores. This is hilarious. Reserved and distant Rand, son of the cabal leader, potential ally, is horribly loud in his droning.

  I get close to his side without actually touching him. With two fingers extended, I hold my breath while lowering my hand over his face, and pinch his nostrils. Between my fingers, his nose compresses with the suction, but once he realizes he’s getting no air, he snorts and flies up in bed in a sitting position.

  He swings around left and right, looking for some threat. When he realizes there isn’t one, he catches me beside him, silently shaking with the hilarity of the situation. I hold my sides in a poor attempt to hold in the laughter.

  “Think you’re funny, don’t ya.” More a statement than a question. I can’t argue; I do think I’m pretty funny.

  Whatever he is about to do is stopped as his sister strolls into the room. She comes up short as we both turn to look at her.

  “Why are you in here?” She looks to Rand.

  “To protect her virtue, of course.”

  She rolls her eyes. “If you are taking her out for a tour like you told Rainer you would, you better get ready. I will stay here with her.”

  Rand stands up and stretches.

  “I’ll be back in thirty with breakfast, okay?” I nod my agreement, and he brushes a kiss to my forehead before leaving.

  Ralina and I stare at each other. Apparently she isn’t going to start this conversation.

  “Good morning!” I chirp.

  “Ugh.” She responds with a roll of her eyes, and that makes me smile a little wider. It’s kind of fun to get a rise out of this serious girl, and with everything going on in my world right now, I’ll take it where I can get it.

  “All right, so what do you want me to do? I want to be ready when he comes back.” I need to see the layout here and get a feel for who mills about. I may be waiting for the guys to break me out, but I want to be as prepared as I can possibly be.

  She walks to the closet and picks out something similar to what Jari picked out for me yesterday. I get khaki hiking pants and a pale-blue, long-sleeve shirt. It’s practical and utilitarian. Good.

  “Here.” She grunts, leaving again to head into the bathroom.

  I follow her, in need of a shower before I get dressed for the day. Turning on the shower, I get on with the morning routine and pretend she isn’t hanging around in here with me. Since I don’t know her and she doesn’t seem overly fond of me, it just seems awkward.

  Luckily, as I get ready to whip my shirt off to step into the shower, she exits and shuts the door behind her. Yas! I can take my shower in peace. As I am step
ping into the shower, I notice some crusty stuff down below. Pretty sure there’s dry semen on the inside of my thighs.

  Gross.

  After the quickest shower in history, I rush through dressing to meet Ralina back in the bedroom. Just like yesterday, there is no conversation. Ralina applies light makeup and weaves my hair into a tight French braid. When the thirty minutes are about up, she is just finishing braiding my hair.

  “You know, I can get ready myself. You don’t have to tend to me.”

  “I’d rather not, but this way we know what you are doing at all times.”

  Wow. No games. That’s kind of refreshing.

  That comment sounds like she is on Rainer’s side of the spectrum, but my gut is telling me that she is loyal to Rand. She could just be making comments like that because she knows Rainer has spies. The same way Rand won’t talk to me unless he is practically on top of me and speaks directly in my ear. If Rainer does have spies in the Caen House, it’s not likely that Ralina could get away with the same closeness without some suspicion.

  “Come.” Ralina stands and moves toward the door.

  She opens the door as Rand rounds the corner.

  “Ah, Isolde! Good morning to you! Are you ready for an exciting day?” Rainer booms.

  Rand gives a secretive tilt of the lips that I’m sure Rainer doesn’t miss. Maybe that’s the point?

  Rand comes right up to me for a quick embrace and a slow peck on the lips. There is definitely some lingering going on.

  “Good morning, love.”

  A little surprised at this show of affection, it takes me a minute to gather my wits and reply.

  “Good morning to you both. Is it time for my tour?”

  “Yes, my dear. I wanted to come and give you the agenda for the day. Rand will be spending the morning with you, showing you the training facility and some of the grounds. At lunch, you are to meet with Lavi. She and Ralina are having a fantastic meal prepared for you. After lunch, Ralina will escort you to Matt, one of our elders, for a history lesson on Fennina. How does that sound?” He claps his hands together in excitement. You would think he just offered to take everyone to Disney World for the first time.